2012-2012 Celtics Season

According to ESPN (who is citing Novosti.rs via Sportando), Darko Milicic is flying to the US to sign a deal with the Celtics.

Why "oh god?" Size at the veteran minimum for one year? If he does anything at all he's worth it.

May be grasping here but the negative for me is that Melo's best chance of becoming something may hinge on spending time with KG and learning how to play with intensity.

I would think this move all but ensure's he spends most of his time in the D-League.

Again, that's probably a reach.

Why? THIS WOULD BE SO FUN!

Yeah, but they're going to have to suspend KG after he tears out Darko's throat with his bare hands on national TV.

Would you trade Jeff Green, Brandon Bass, and Courtney Lee for Paul Gasol, assuming Gasol's knee tendinitis heals by January 15th and Avery Bradley returns and is fully healthy?

The biggest problem with the roster is the lack of an above-average or even average defensive big man behind KG. No other big on the roster has the length/athleticism or shot-blocking ability to (a) hedge and recover on the pick-and-roll and (b) provide good enough help defense on the second level when perimeter players get beat.

While Jefferson is a great offensive player and rebounder and a decent post defender, he doesn't have the length or athleticism to solve the Celtics' defensive problems. Gortat is a good shot-blocker and defender (although he has struggled on that end this season), and he would be ideal as the third big man in the rotation who subs in for KG at around the seven minute mark in the 1Q and 3Q. The problem is, it will likely require either Sullinger or Bradley (or both), along with one of Green/Lee/Bass to acquire Gortat, and I'm not sure if the price is worth it.

I'm not sure Jefferson is a good athlete. His pre-draft measurements were pretty terrible-- no step vert was a very mediocre 28.5 and his lane agility was an atrocious 13.08. That's much worse than guys like Bass (31.5, 11.62) and Wilcox (31, 11.43) and even worse than guys like Melo (29.5, 12.14) and Sullinger (29.5, 12.77) who are noted bad athletes. Yes, Jefferson was drafted out of HS eight years ago and has slimmed down a bit since then, but he's 27 now and not many guys get more athletic once they move from their early 20s. Most scouting reports would back me up on this one--Jefferson is a borderline all-star because of superb post technique, footwork, and strength, but he's a below-average athlete for an NBA big.

Moreover, defense matters a lot more for big men than for guards. You can integrate below-average guards into the defense (Ray Allen, Nate Robinson, Jason Terry, etc.) if you have great defensive bigs backing them up (you can have them funnel players towards the baseline, etc). But it's really tough to play good team defense if you have slow-footed, unathletic bigs who have to make three or four quick rotations per possession and can't keep up physically or mentally.

Baby had above-average quickness and great feet, plus he always took a ton of charges. I don't watch Jefferson play too much, so I'll defer to you on that one. I just know the basketball blogosphere has regarded Jefferson as a pretty bad defender for years now (see here and here, for instance), which is pretty much in line with what little I've seen of him. Jefferson does have more blocks than I would expect, and he has pretty good 7'2" wingspan.

Is anybody potentially interested in acquiring DeMarcus Cousins? Since last night's Cousins incident where he didn't come out of the locker room after half time, continuing his streak of clashes with coaches in Sacramento, I have seen a few people bring up the Celtics as a possible destination. Bill Simmons has been tweeting about acquiring Cousins and sending him to "KG Camp" saying that Cousins "can be saved".

I think the trade would be a good one, although I would not want to give up Sullinger. The defense and rebounding has continued to be atrocious and I would hope that bringing in a true five would help take pressure off of KG and improve the Celt's defense. At the same time I could see Doc, Pierce, and KG mentoring Cousins. I don't think there was ever a veteran on Sacramento who could mentor him or take him under his wing.

Ironic part is that Sullinger's the only one that makes this statement incorrect.

I wouldn't be surprised if he became the first big off the bench by the end of January. The other bigs on the roster are that bad on D.